Brother Mine
by iEvenstarEstel
Summary: Danny and the concept of 'brothers'.


**Title**: Brother Mine **  
Author**: Evenstar Estel **  
Rating**: K+ **  
Characters**/**Pairing**: Danny, Connor, Abby. **  
Spoilers**: Series 4, Ep 7. **  
Genre**: Friendship, Angst. **  
Summary**: Danny and the concept of 'brothers'. **  
Author's Note**: I promised Prehistoric Cat that I would write her a bit of Danny fic post Episode 7 so here it is!

Brother Mine  
2011 Evenstar Estel

Danny sighed heavily and his tears ran unchecked down his face. He packed the dirt tightly over top Patrick's body. He'd made sure to bury him deep, so nothing would disturb his final rest. There was nothing on him Danny could've kept as a souvenir, no personal mementos of the man his brother had become. Save for one thing. Danny tucked the worn, faded photobooth snapshots of the two of them as children into his pocket. Danny couldn't even recall when the pictures had been taken. They'd looked like happy boys. Danny replayed in his mind the weeks that had led up to this moment, wondering if things could've ended differently. Danny sat back and looked up at the sky. The stars were just starting to come out. He knew these skies and their constellations like the back of his hand. He pulled _Ethan_'s coat over his shoulders. He held 'Molly' under his arm, hefted the EMD gun over his shoulder and held firm to small handheld anomaly detector that Ethan had stolen. Danny could only think of the man he'd been forced to kill as Ethan now, whoever Patrick was or could've been disappeared eighteen years ago. Danny didn't look back as he walked on in search of safe place to camp.

Three weeks later and an anomaly had still failed to appear. He kept camp on a high ridge that overlooked the spot he'd found the last one. There were terror birds in this territory, but not so many that he was in immediate danger. He'd done a lot of thinking since burying his brother. He'd finally let himself grieve and had raged, alone and unfettered in the wilderness. When he'd cried his last and said a final goodbye to Patrick, he'd got back to the life he'd known for over a year - foraging for food and water, keeping the fire going and watching out for predators. Danny couldn't help but dwell on the few hours he'd been back home in the 21st Century. The first voice he'd heard was Becker's, solid git that he was. The first face he'd seen had been Abby's, always beautiful and full of spirit. But for some reason seeing Connor had made him happiest. His old friend had been all smiles and called him _sunshine _of all things. But Connor Temple was no longer the bumbling kid that he'd left behind in the Cretaceous Era. This Connor now had confidence to pair with his innate bravery. Danny was fairly certain the source of the change in Connor was Abby. He'd asked them if they'd finally gotten together and while Connor had said nothing, Abby's knowing smile and the affectionate look in Connor's direction said all. That made Danny happy. Those two deserved to have something honest and pure in their lives like love. Connor was a good man and deserved it.

Danny sat on the ledge of the cliff looking out over the valley. When the anomaly opened he saw it before the detector picked it up. He ran down to it at the speed of light. He was a bit more cautious as he went through, not wanting to get shot with those blasted EMD guns again. He passed through and was met but none other than Connor. The device he held in his hands looked remarkably like the one they'd seen Helen Cutter use.

"Ha! It worked!" Connor cheered, earning a kiss from Abby who was also with him. A few punches on the keypad later, the anomaly snapped closed behind him.

"Welcome home again!" said Abby, giving Danny a hug. Connor wrapped his arms around both of them.

"You opened the anomaly?" Danny asked after they'd let go of him.

"Yep! I've been working on it for a month, using Helen's old one as a blueprint. This was the first test!" beamed Connor.

"Cheers, mate. It's good to be back, and for good this time. I could really _really_ use a shower and a shave."

"Sure thing," said Abby. "You can come home with us. We just moved into our new flat and we've got a spare room. It's yours if you want it."

"Definitely," relied Danny. He threw his long arms around both their shoulders and hugged them again. "Where's the soldiers?" Danny looked around the abandoned warehouse, but the only people there were Connor and Abby.

"Back at the ARC I suppose," said Connor. "Abby thought I should test it... um... in private. Just in case it didn't work. And if the cloaking shield I programmed in worked, the ARC won't have detected it. I can't wait to show this to Philip."

Danny's head snapped to Abby and he met her gaze. The look of panic and worry behind her eyes told him all he needed to know. "Not tonight though, eh? Could kill for a pint and a pizza."

Connor put the device away. "Course. We've got some catching up to do first, right? It's good to have you back. Um... what happened to, er, your brother?"

"Gone, for good. He won't be hurting any more people," Danny said gravely.

"I'm sorry," spoke Abby softly.

"Thanks. That's the past now. Got more important things to worry about." No more words were spoken as they made their way to the car. Danny looked Connor over. Maybe the young man was more confident in himself, but Danny realized he was still woefully naive. He could tell Abby was doing her best to look out for him, but Connor was still unaware of how thin the ice was that he was treading upon. Danny'd had time to revisit Helen's grave and his first camp and had amassed the bits of paper he'd left behind, the ones with Philip Burton's name on them. It wasn't much in the way of proof that he and Helen were connected, but he hoped he could be persuasive enough to convince Connor that Philip Burton was nothing but trouble and could not be trusted. He hadn't been able to save one brother, but Danny Quinn would be damned if he couldn't save another.

The End


End file.
